Beginner training for first marathon

"I just want to finish" is the equivalent of my students who say, "I'm happy with a C." The triumph of mediocrity. Nobody here is going to win a marathon but why wouldn't you rather say, "I trained intelligently, raced well, and posted a good time without having to walk half the way and without blowing up in the last six miles?" Things that are worthwhile in life take time and effort.

That is down right silly... Triumph of mediocrity. She set a goal and is willing to work hard to achieve it. Why bother to run a marathon at all if you aren't going to go sub 3 hours... I mean, why would you settle for such mediocrity? For that matter, if you don't have a reasonable chance to win then why bother?

Everyone has different goals and is at different levels. For all but the eliete any race is a race against ourselves. It is a way to set goals and strive to be better than we were yesterday.

"I just want to finish" is the equivalent of my students who say, "I'm happy with a C." The triumph of mediocrity. Nobody here is going to win a marathon but why wouldn't you rather say, "I trained intelligently, raced well, and posted a good time without having to walk half the way and without blowing up in the last six miles?" Things that are worthwhile in life take time and effort.

Says who finished his first HM with no training, poor base and at pace that any middle aged woman could run faster.

And, I know you are faster now, and have different goals, and you trained for your first marathon to BQ...blah... blah ...blah, but I'm referring to your first HM.

That is down right silly... Triumph of mediocrity. She set a goal and is willing to work hard to achieve it. Why bother to run a marathon at all if you aren't going to go sub 3 hours... I mean, why would you settle for such mediocrity? For that matter, if you don't have a reasonable chance to win then why bother?

Everyone has different goals and is at different levels. For all but the eliete any race is a race against ourselves. It is a way to set goals and strive to be better than we were yesterday.

@ taotemu --Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am a little confused because the blog I clicked on to post was "BEGINNER" not advanced. I have different goals than those who are attacking me. I respect how you "race" in a marthon but I want to finish one and go from there. Respect people's goals and quit being so self righteous and judgmental. We all have different goals and objectives and if I want to walk the darn thing, I will walk the darn thing. It is up to me to decide what my goals are. I don't tell you what you should do or how you would feel if you did this or that. I am all done defending myself and my goals to disrespectful, know-it-all people. Please don't respond if you are just going to tell me the reasons why you think I am doing it or telling me that I am medicore or any other reasons that build yourself up, while cutting me down. Look at yourself before you make negative judgments on others. A few bad eggs in this blog have really left a sour taste in my mouth. Wow!

Now I do not want to post anything outta fear and it took a lot for me to post in the first place only to be made to feel like a complete idiot. I am not an ultra elite runner, never have been, never will be, I will never have a trainer and I will never run sub 4, and I will eat junk food and drink beer too. I like balance and want to enjoy life. I know there are AVERAGE people out there like me who are doing it for fun, health, and not too seriously. Best of luck to all of you in your upcoming races. I loved reading your posts about your successes and accomplishments.

Why is it so important for you to run a marathon in 6 months? Why not wait for a year, or two years, or three? You seem to be in a big rush. That, along with your running history, makes me wonder if you are interested in making a long-term commitment to running.

It's OK, if that isn't your goal, but be honest with yourself. If running a marathon is just something to cross off a bucket-list, I think you will find the accomplishment to be rather hollow. What does it represent, other than the fact that you trained your body just enough so that you could drag yourself over the finish line?

More experienced runners aren't trying to be mean when they warn you against jumping into this too quickly. Many beginners have seriously injured themselves, or burned out due to the high mileage necessary for successful marathon training. Many never even reach the starting line.

I have been running an average of ~60 miles per week for the past 7+ months. I probably have the base to run a half-azzed marathon if I ramped up my long run over the next couple of months. Yet what keeps me running isn't the lure of a race, but the feeling of running itself, and the knowledge that I will continue improving my fitness over time, as long as I maintain my consistency and dedication. If you don't enjoy running for it's own sake, what's the point? It is doubtful that you will continue.

Being a "serious" runner doesn't mean running consistent 100 mile weeks, giving up beer and junk food, and obsessing over your training. It means looking at running as a long term, preferably life-long, part of a healthy lifestyle change.

In some cases, I was following a fast running, good looking, seductively clad woman. In others, I was making a half-hearted attempt to do speed work, despite my absolute hatred of it. In any case, the following results are intended for entertainment purposes only, not because I'm trying to be the next Speed Racer of running.

Look, what I wrote was not meant to be mean. Sorry you took it that way.

What you are failing to understand is that everyone who is posting in this thread is AVERAGE. We all do it because it is fun and keeps us healthy. Are some more competitive than others? Sure. That doesn't make them elite, though.

You say that you want to run to be healthy and you want to set a goal that will help you get into running. Running a marathon in 6 months is the worst goal you can set to get you there. Can you do it? Sure. But you will end up hating it and will probably come away injured. I guarantee you will not come away with a new-found love of running.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting your goal to run a shorter distance! In fact, you will enjoy the journey and the race more. This doesn't mean you can't have an ultimate goal of running a marathon. Just think, what are you going to do when you run this marathon in 6 months from now? What will your next goal be? I bet it won't be to run another marathon.

Start Slow! You won't burn yourself out or get injured and you can incrementally increase your goal distance as you enjoy running.

Amy, good luck to you and I believe you can get some good advice (and support) if you stick around. You posted on a public forum so you are going to get a variety of opinions, and hopefully you understood that before you posted.

I believe most of the negative advice on here is born out of the desire to prevent you from injuring yourself. 16, 18, 20 mile runs are no joke.

As far as "why bother to run if you can't do it in x hours y minutes"... I don't buy into that either. You can use your first race as a stepping stone to the next, and so on.

But again first and foremost you should be considering your health.. and common wisdom around here is you probably should have a couple of years of solid running under your belt before you tackle the typical marathong training plan.

"I just want to finish" is the equivalent of my students who say, "I'm happy with a C." The triumph of mediocrity. Nobody here is going to win a marathon but why wouldn't you rather say, "I trained intelligently, raced well, and posted a good time without having to walk half the way and without blowing up in the last six miles?" Things that are worthwhile in life take time and effort.

Says who finished his first HM with no training, poor base and at pace that any middle aged woman could run faster.

And, I know you are faster now, and have different goals, and you trained for your first marathon to BQ...blah... blah ...blah, but I'm referring to your first HM.

When I was a child, my parents allowed my brother and I to ride standing up in the back seat of the car. Despite the fact that neither one of us ever got so much of a scratch, allowing your children to ride standing up in the back seat of a car is not a particularly good idea.

In the case of my first half marathon, I wasn't part of an online community, hadn't talked to other runners, hadn't read a lick of literature and had no idea what I was doing. Hell, I thought Nike Shox were actual running shoes which is why I was wearing them. I was just tired of being fat. No one told me I was being stupid in that first half marathon although the suffering I did in the days that followed relayed that message loud and clear. I learned from that mistake and it was over two years after that half marathon when I ran my first marathon.

Because I learned from that mistake, I trained well, predicted my finishing time within a 5 minute window and ran a 19 second negative split. I could have finished one long before then but I chose to wait until I could run well rather than stumble across the finish in severe pain as I did in that first half marathon.

There is no requirement for another person to repeat my mistakes unless they just enjoy suffering.

I can't speak for every other person that has replied, but I sincerely believe most of these folks said what they said because they have either experienced first-hand, or watched countless others (on the forum or IRL), fail after taking on a huge goal wih inadequate preparation.

I know for me, my body simply could not tolerate the mileage increases necessary to go from 0-26.2 in six months. Not even close! And while you may be one of those rare individuals that can take it, no one here wants to see you injured, discouraged, burned out, etc. if you're not. 6 miles is an awesome accomplishment, but you'll still have to run more than 20 miles after that!

When I told my wife that I was going to wait a few years to even consider running a marathon, she was puzzled and almost concerned. I told her not to worry, that there would still be marathons going on then... Even though I am waiting because I'm wanting to run a "fast"--for me--time, I still would wait otherwise. I know I am not mentally capable of running/walking for six or seven hours....that's simply beyond me.

I hope, whatever decision you make, that running becomes a lifelong passion for you. I don't think C2Marathon is the way to accomplish that, but that's ultimately your decision.

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